Storybook Sense
by Mistress of Muses
Summary: Previously "Adventures Underground" Crossover with Alice in Wonderland. The Queen of Hearts is seeking power, and has kidnapped Az in order to gain it. Now DG and the others are traveling into Wonderland to find her. Slight hints of various pairings.
1. Chapter 1

Author's/Explanatory Notes:

Written for the spring contest over at the crossoveroff community on livejournal. Unfortunately the judges backed out, so the contest was never completed, but the challenge was to write a crossover of Tin Man and anything else of my choice. I chose Alice in Wonderland. The fic was completed on April 1st, and I apologize for the late posting here.

Summary: The Witch of the O.Z. wasn't the only one with dreams of power. The Queen of Hearts has kidnapped Azkadellia in an attempt to take over the world above. Now DG, Cain, Glitch, Raw, and Jeb are going into Wonderland to rescue her.

Pairings: Hints of Cain/Glitch, very light Azkadellia/Alice, and both some slight Jeb/DG and slight Raw/DG. None of it is really beyond subtext though.

There are some fairly vague references made to the Wizard of Oz canon outside of just Tin Man, though it's nothing huge, and it doesn't really follow the canon of the books. But the character of "Princess Langwidere of Ev" is from the Oz stories, and I just appropriated her for my own use.

The title was a last minute addition, when I suddenly realized that I didn't have one. "Adventures Underground" is the title that Alice's Adventures in Wonderland originally went by.

And kudos to anyone that recognizes the random quotes I used throughout. Mostly there are just lines from movies, songs, or books that I liked and wanted to fit in. It's not important that you recognize them, but I had fun putting them in.

I don't own Tin Man, Alice in Wonderland, or The Wizard of Oz stories. There are quotes used throughout that I can't lay claim to either. The plot however does belong to me.

Feedback is greatly appreciated!

Many thanks to Ryuichi of Ryuichi-Tohma for letting me talk to her at all hours of the night/morning to see if my ideas made sense, and to Zeva for not throwing things at me when I asked questions like "what kind of flower would be the most conceited?"

Adventures Underground

Chapter 1

"Az!" DG screamed, running across the empty floor.

Cain bit back a curse and ran after, determined to protect her. Jeb followed close behind him.

The elder sister's eyes were wide with fear, though the hand over her mouth kept her from screaming.

The woman behind Azkadellia grinned wickedly at the group in front of her. Following one quick gesture, red light swept in an arc in front of them. From the trail of light on the floor, giant metal guards appeared. They were like giant playing cards the size of a man, but they were certainly more dangerous than paper; their edges looked sharp, and they were carrying spears.

Cain's gun was in his hand immediately and he tried to shoot at the woman holding Az, but the cards blocked the shots.

DG swept her arm out in a counter to the woman's gesture, and green-tinted light hit the card-soldiers in their middles. It made them stop and even shift backwards, but they didn't disappear.

The woman stepped forward. She was dressed almost entirely in red, with a suggestion of a heart on the bodice of her dress. A gold crown glimmered on her head, and a large cabochon ruby hung at her throat.

The card-soldiers shifted backwards so that they were flanking her. They made a disturbing sound of blades slicing against each other as they moved.

The woman sneered at them all and grabbed Azkadellia close. Then she snapped her fingers, and she, the soldiers, and Az all disappeared.

"Az!" DG yelled again, racing to where her sister had been.

All that was left there was a letter, written in flourished ornate script. The red ink stood out disturbingly like blood. DG's hands were shaking it as she picked it up and began to read it. The others looked over her shoulders.

_The Queen of Hearts invites you to meet her Formally in Wonderland at Her Castle. It is suggested that you bring with you Emeralds of Great Value and Power to Trade for your princess's Life. Failure to bring Emeralds for Her Highness will result in the subsequent Beheading of your beloved princess. Send a party of five or fewer in the next Three Days and be ready to bow before your New Queen._

"Jeb. Go get the king and queen. Now." Cain's voice was low, but it was obvious that he was anything but calm.

Jeb ran out of the hall, leaving Cain and DG staring at the letter.

"The Queen of Hearts…" DG whispered. "What does she want?"

"Emeralds, it seems," Cain answered, looking around the ballroom warily. His gun was still drawn.

"But why?"

"She wants power," the queen answered from the door before she rushed to DG and hugged her tightly.

Ahamo was right behind her, and paused next to his wife. "You know how powerful the emerald of the eclipse was. Any of the emeralds from the O.Z. have some power to them."

Glitch added from behind them, "Too bad all that power faded so long ago." He paused then, and looked around, apparently unsure of where that statement had been going.

"Oh, my poor daughter…" the queen shook her head.

"No. No, we're going to go get Az back, and we're going to do it now," DG said, pulling back slightly from her mother's hug. "We have to. We can't just leave her with some… some insane queen from God only knows where."

Ahamo walked up to them and held out his hand. "Let me see the letter."

"Sure." She handed it over.

All of them stood while he read it out loud.

"So… send five people to walk in to their death?" Jeb asked.

"I know it's a trap, but we've got to go. There's no way to even try to rescue Az if we don't." DG nodded firmly.

"Who would we send, though?" The queen asked. "We can't just send a company of Tin Men, not even if they'd be willing to go. Not into a situation like that."

"Well, I'll go," DG offered.

"You can't, kid," Cain told her. "We lost one princess, we're not jeopardizing the other one."

"Excuse me? I don't think you're stopping me, Tin Man. I'm not a stranger to being in dangerous situations, if you don't recall."

"Please, love, don't make me lose both my daughters again," the queen begged, her lips pressed thin.

"Mother, please. You won't lose _either_ of us; I'm the one with the best chance of finding her. She's my sister."

The king nodded slowly. "If someone can find her, it will be you." It was obvious that he was reluctant to agree, but he had to.

"Then I'm going with you," Cain said. "You need protection."

"Head of the guard would be the appropriate choice for that." The queen nodded.

"Not to dampen the 'enthusiasm' you're all showing, but where are we even _going?_" Jeb asked, looking back at the paper Ahamo was still holding.

"How do you get to Wonderland…" Glitch asked, trailing off.

A few moments of silence passed, and it became obvious that _none_ of them had the slightest idea.

"I bet Raw could tell us," DG said, "If he touched the letter."

"I know where he is, Princess. I'll go get him," Jeb said, running out of the hall without waiting for an answer.

XXX

Hours later, the six of them were seated at a large table in one of the council chambers.

Jeb had found Raw, and the queen had suggested that further discussion should take place somewhere more private than the open hall.

Raw had been able to View off of the letter, but what he could say about it was still fairly limited. Most of what he Saw revolved on what would be _in_ Wonderland, not how to get there. Not that even his glimpses of the place made much sense; the whole place seemed completely nonsensical. He said he Saw mushrooms the size of houses, talking animals, chess pieces and playing cards walking on their own. After seeing the metal card soldiers, no one doubted that his Viewing was perfectly accurate.

Still, he had been left with two very specific impressions that were not shrouded in confusion; that the queen was incredibly dangerous and deadly serious when she said she'd kill Azkadellia, and that to get to Wonderland they would have to go underground.

The hours that had now passed had consisted of argument after argument over who would go, assuming they _could_ find their way. DG had remained adamant that she was going, and while her parents were still unhappy with the idea, they had eventually agreed. Everyone had agreed that Cain had to go, to continue acting as her bodyguard. The queen had nominated Glitch as well, since he was their friend, and despite his 'glitches' he was still an advisor, and would likely be a help to them. DG asked Raw to come, partially to keep him from being left out, but also because his abilities would potentially be very useful to them. A few names of promising soldiers were mentioned for a fifth, but it was Jeb who raised his voice and declared that he was going too. The king and queen agreed without hesitation, and while Cain obviously _wanted_ to object, he kept quiet.

The conversation had now turned back to how they were even going to find Wonderland, only knowing that it was underground.

"Don't you know where it is? You lived underground for a long time, dad," DG asked.

"The Realm of the Unwanted is self-contained. The only reference to "Wonderland" I remember was in relation to an extremely potent form of the witch's vapors that was sold on shadier-than-average street corners. As in the drugs would 'take you to Wonderland,' but I somehow doubt they meant literally." Ahamo sighed.

"So many of the court records were destroyed," the queen sighed. "Otherwise I'd suggest we search there."

"It'd take too long anyway," DG said. "We have to find out how to get there and go _now._ Before Az gets hurt."

"Just as important," Cain said, "is what are we going to do once we are there? She wants a ransom of emeralds, and she'll probably kill us on sight if we don't have them."

"But father, like Glitch said, the emeralds don't have the power they supposedly once had. The emerald of the eclipse was the last one of real _magic_, wasn't it?" Jeb asked.

"It's said that the emeralds used to provide all of the O.Z. with its power, but as time wore on, we didn't need them anymore. Once upon a time magic ran the cities, and the emeralds provided the power for it. That was why for a time Central City was known as the Emerald City. But then fewer people with strong magic were born, and so the magic was replaced with machines. Now only the royal family has true strong magic, and occasionally rare others. But as people lost their magic, so did the stones, until they were no longer powerful, but just lumps of green rock," the queen said, as if she were reciting something she'd read many times before. "That's one reason we took care to hide the Emerald of the Eclipse; we were afraid that the power would leave it. Most emeralds barely react anymore, and even then, only if they are around someone with very strong magic."

"But would the Queen of Hearts know it?" DG asked. "If we show her that we _have_ Emeralds for her, maybe she'll let us close enough to do… I don't know. Something."

"There are plenty of emeralds in the palace. The witch collected enough of them while searching…"

"It's a shame we can't just go through the Nome Mines. They were abandoned forever ago and they lead just about everywhere underground you could imagine. And whoever imagined Wonderland had quite an imagination," Glitch nodded.

"Hey, now that's not a bad idea. Could that work?" Ahamo asked.

"What?" Glitch asked.

"The mines. Could they be the way to get there?"

"It could be," Jeb said slowly. "The vapors contained the witch's magic spell, but our agents told us they were also made from something found underground, sometimes in the abandoned mines. The witch seemed to only be interested in the mines that would give her what she needed for her machine-"

"Moritanium, number 216." Glitch interrupted.

"Yeah, that." Jeb nodded. "And so the older mines in the mountains were largely ignored. But she was occasionally getting some ingredient for her vapors from the other mines. If that same drug was said to 'take you to Wonderland'… maybe that's where the mines lead."

"It's more of a lead than we had before." Ahamo shrugged. "I'd say it's worth a try. We know how to find the Nome Mines, don't we?"

Cain nodded. "The only entrance I know of is another of the mines in the Black Mountains, in the east. We should be able to find it without any real problem. Assuming it _is_ really the way."

"We have to at least try," DG said.

XXX

They were in the Black Mountains the day after that.

Preparations had been quick, especially at DG's insistence, though no one had wanted to delay the rescue.

It helped time-wise that there wasn't much any of them could do _to_ prepare. No one knew what they were doing, so all they could do was bring food and clothing, the emeralds for the ransom, and hope they would be able to face whatever came in Wonderland.

A truck ride got them to Central City by nightfall; they spend the night there, and in the morning set out with a small company of Tin Men on horseback to find the mine.

And they _did_ find it. And it was obvious that someone had been using it more recently than most had believed. The undergrowth was all cut away from around it, and some steep, narrow, but hopefully reasonably sturdy stairs led down into the blackness.

Cain insisted on going first. Glitch followed him, with DG after him. Raw was behind her, and Jeb brought up the rear.

The stairs could barely qualify as such. They were so steep that half the climb down had to be made facing the wall and using their hands as well, but it wasn't _quite_ vertical enough to count as a ladder either.

DG lost count of how long the climb took. Her back was aching from the awkward position, and they couldn't even see the light of the entrance anymore. Cain and Jeb both had flashlights that were lighting the way now. Shadows loomed eerily around them on every side, and since they couldn't see the bottom of this hole either, a sudden slip seemed ever more terrifying.

"I can see the bottom," Cain finally called, his voice echoing up the tunnel.

After a few more minutes, they were down in the maze of tunnels.

Cain and Jeb both shone their lights around, but there was no clue as to which way to go. The tunnels already branched here, and doubtless would many more times farther on.

DG borrowed Cain's flashlight and walked back and forth between the pathways, trying to judge which was more well used, or anything else that would tell them which way to go.

"Hey, what's that?" she asked, aiming the light down one passage.

"Looks like… a mushroom," Jeb answered.

"I think we should go this way," DG said.

"Based on _fungi_?" Glitch asked. "Can you use magic or something a bit more reliable that the growth patterns of subterranean decomposers?

"I can't use magic if I don't know what I'm looking for. And especially if we _do_ get to the Queen of Hearts' realm, I don't think I should use magic if I can avoid it. I don't know if that would make us easier to find. And, well, why not follow the mushroom? It's not like there are posted signs; 'This way to magical and impossible realms hidden underground.' That'd be helpful though," DG said, starting off.

Everyone else followed. A mushroom may have been an arbitrary reason to choose a path, but it was a reason.

Following the mushroom passage, they found more of the fungi growing along the walls and the floor. They continued to provide them with direction, because even when the tunnels branched the mushrooms only grew one way. Some of them even gave off a very faint glow.

"How are all of these even growing down here?" DG asked. "They have no light, and nothing to be growing on but rocks."

"Does it really matter, Princess? They are, and as far as we can tell, they're marking some kind of path. I just hope they aren't leading us into some kind of a trap," Cain said.

DG shrugged and pushed back in front of him. "That's silly though. Who'd set a trap down he –" Her question ended in a scream as she fell.

The hole hadn't even been visible where they were, as it had been completely concealed by shadows on the tunnel floor.

"DG!" Raw and Cain were first to the edge of the pit, though Jeb and Glitch weren't far behind.

"No, it's okay!" she called back up. Her voice was faint.

Cain and Jeb both aimed their lights downward, but the light didn't reach the bottom.

"Are you okay?" Jeb asked. "How deep is it?"

"Um… I'm still falling. But… slow," came the reply. Her voice sounded a little farther away than before, but not much.

"What?" Cain yelled.

"I think this is the way we have to go! Jump down!" she yelled.

"I'm not jumping down there!" Glitch immediately protested.

"Have to. Follow DG." Raw nodded, standing at the edge of the hole, staring down.

"Remember the cliff when we were running from the Papé?" Cain asked, securing his pack on his back. "Just like that. We have to. We can't leave DG, and she says it seems to be safe."

"She says she hasn't reached the bottom. What if there _isn't_ a bottom?" Glitch asked.

"You know that's not possible," said Jeb, grabbing Glitch's arm. "Let's go."

Raw leapt down without hesitating. Jeb lingered a second longer, until Cain grabbed Glitch's other arm.

Cain and Jeb jumped together, pulling Glitch with them.

XXX

Azkadellia woke up on a cold floor. Her disorientation only lasted for a second as she got to her feet.

The woman who'd kidnapped her, DG and the others running toward her, those card things…

Now she was in a cell. A pretty typical one, as far as she could judge these things. Completely stone and metal, only vaguely lit by some undefined light source. There was a bench on the left wall, but that was all.

"Gods. To think I ever put people in places like this," she said, reflexively rubbing her arms and looking around. It wasn't really cold, but it felt like it should be.

"Excuse me," came a voice from the dark area off to her right.

Azkadellia jumped and spun to face the direction the voice had come from.

There was a girl standing at the bars of the cell. She was probably a little younger than Azkadellia, with long blonde hair.

"Who are you?" Azkadellia asked.

"My name is Alice. Excuse me, but are there any mushrooms growing in that cell?"

"What?" Az looked around. "No, I don't think there are."

"Drat." Alice sighed. "I hoped there would be some over there."

"Why?" Az asked, walking closer.

"Well, if they made us shrink we could get through the bars, and if they made us grow, we might become strong enough to break out."

"Wait, why?"

"Oh, you're new to Wonderland, aren't you?"

"Well, yes, I am."

"Where are you from then?"

"My name is Azkadellia, and I'm from the O.Z. I think I've been kidnapped…"

"The O.Z.? I don't think I know it. But the woman who kidnapped you was the Queen of Hearts. I assumed that you'd just made her angry, and she tossed you in here to await beheading." The girl sounded all too comfortable with that.

"The Queen of Hearts?"

"Oh, yes. She rules Wonderland now. She used to just rule part of it, but a while ago something happened and she took the rest over. And then I ended up trapped here too, even though I should be able to leave whenever I want, if it is really a dream."

"I don't think you're dreaming."

"You know, I'm beginning to think the same thing? I'm afraid my imagination may have really run away with me this time."

"I don't think you're imagining it either. It feels pretty real to me."

"Does it? It feels real to me too. I thought I just made Wonderland up. I wonder if it is a real place?"

"I don't think I understand."

"The last time I was here, I was very young, and then I left when I woke up. Wonderland was just a dream, my family said, and I figured they were right, and I'd made it up. But I've been here so long; I should have woken up by now."

"So you aren't from Wonderland either? Where are you from?"

"I'm from England. Or Earth, I guess, to be less specific, since I don't believe the O.Z. is there."

"Hey, my father is from there. Not England, I don't think, but he's from Earth. My little sister lived there too. I wonder if they're coming after me…"

"I hope so. Because if you don't get out of here soon, the queen might lose her temper, and that never ends well."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The fall was decidedly eerie. DG had been right when she said she was falling "slow." It wasn't like being in water, exactly, but it had a similar quality to it. Sort of weightless, though their other motions didn't seem impaired like they would be underwater.

Cain and Jeb had put their flashlights away before they'd jumped, afraid of dropping and losing them, so the beginning of the fall had been almost entirely dark. Jeb had managed to grab onto Raw before they got too far down, so all four were holding onto each other. The last thing they needed was to lose track of each other.

Gradually the space became brighter, though it was so slight at first they hardly noticed. But then suddenly they were able to see each other, as well as the walls of the tunnel down.

It was a good thing they were falling so slowly; not just because a fall this long was almost sure to kill them, but because the passageway was really very narrow. If they had been falling much faster, they'd probably have battered themselves to death on the rock walls before they ever got to the bottom.

"DG?" Jeb yelled, trying to tell if she was still falling ahead of them.

There was no answer.

The sudden light in the tunnels didn't appear to have any obvious source. A few times they passed more of the glowing mushrooms, but those weren't bright enough to provide the illumination.

As odd as the fall was, it was getting old. The faintly lit rock walls never really changed, and there was still no sign of a bottom.

"What is _that_?" Glitch asked, staring down.

Cain peered ahead, trying to make out what was on the wall of the tunnel.

As they fell closer, it became obvious it was a portrait. Just a regular painting of a young woman, framed, hung on the wall a bit crookedly.

None of them could really think of anything to say about it. It was certainly strange, but considering the impossibility of this whole situation, it didn't seem right to complain.

Soon there were more "homey touches" along the walls. Shelves and cabinets had been nailed up, which had books or assortments of teacups arranged on them. In one spot it appeared that one of the shelves had fallen, and all of the objects that were on it were frozen in place, perpetually almost falling. At one point they even passed a sitting chair, just hovering by the side of the tunnel. Thankfully the space had widened a bit by then, so they didn't have to try too hard to avoid hitting the cushioned monstrosity.

Suddenly the fall ended, with no warning whatsoever. All of them touched down to the ground as gently as if they'd just stepped down off a ladder.

Glancing around quickly, they saw that a hallway headed off horizontally.

DG was sitting cross-legged on the floor, which was nicely tiled in black and white checkerboard linoleum. The same flooring extended into the hallway off to their left.

"Took you guys long enough." DG got to her feet, brushing her pants off. "Weird hole, wasn't it?"

"Honestly, this makes no sense. I wonder if I'm dreaming," Jeb said, peering down the hall.

"I doubt it. I thought I was dreaming when I got to the O.Z. I was awake then, and so I figure I'm awake now."

"Well, regardless, we should keep moving," Cain said. "I don't know where we are, but this might be where we need to be to rescue Azkadellia. And seeing as there is only one pathway open to us, I suggest we take it."

The hallway twisted and turned. It was decorated in the same way as the vertical tunnel had been. There were paintings and maps on the walls, though most of them were crooked, and more shelves nailed to the walls, also often times slanted. Lamps hanging from the ceiling provided the light now.

At the end of the hallway was a door. It was a rather smallish door, and they all had to stoop a little to get through.

Through the door, there was another hallway. It might well have been the same hallway as before, except now doors lined the walls.

Stepping forward, DG tried the first door to the right, but it was locked. The other four moved ahead to try the others. They checked the doors all the way down to the end of the hallway. The doors were all different sizes and shapes, but all of them were locked.

The very end of the hallway was just a blank wall, with a table set up against it. DG looked halfheartedly behind the table just in case it was hiding a passage or something, but no such luck.

"What's this?" Glitch asked, reaching around her to the table and pulling out a drawer.

"There's a little gold key inside," said DG.

Glitch picked it up and examined it. It was very small and decorated. "To what? It's too small to fit any of these doors."

"Who knows? It looks more like, I don't know, a diary key or something," said DG.

"Maybe it'll open something in the first hall. Standing here won't get us anywhere," said Jeb.

The party wandered back down toward where they came in. Except when they got to the other end, the door they'd come through was gone. In its place was a floor to ceiling curtain.

"Okay, what the hell?" DG said.

Raw knelt on the floor by the curtain and pulled it aside. Behind it was a door, but not the one they'd come in through. This one was far too small. It was barely a foot high.

"Door is… sad. But not sorrowful. Many tears… but no one crying. Very strange," Raw said, holding his hand to the door.

"What does it say above it?" Jeb asked, pointing to an engraved bit of metal above the door.

"'The Pool of Tears,'" Glitch read, leaning down. "'If you want to go through, look behind you.'"

He glanced back, as did the others.

"Okay, this is really bizarre," DG said. Another table had now appeared. This one was in the middle of the hallway right behind them, and had five small bottles sitting on it. Each one had an ornately decorated tag tied to it that said "Drink Me."

"I think this really _must_ be a dream," Jeb complained. "It's impossible that we wouldn't have heard that just appear."

"Hm…" DG examined one of the bottles carefully. "It doesn't say anything else. Not that I was expecting a nutritional information chart or anything. Shall we then?"

"What, _drink them?_ That can't be a good idea," Glitch said. "Right, Cain?"

"Well it doesn't seem at all likely that someone would have gone to all this trouble just to poison us. I mean, if someone is following us around placing tables in random spots, they're doing a great job freaking me out, but there have got to be easier ways to kill somebody," DG said. "Besides, if it's all a dream like Jeb thinks, then I don't think we're dreaming of killing ourselves."

Without waiting for any of the others to protest again, she downed the bottle.

"Interesting tasting," she said, "not sure what it reminds me of though… oh my." Her expression of shock pretty well matched everyone else's.

"You're shrinking," Glitch said, putting everyone's stunned observations into words.

"It feels very strange," DG said. "I think I know what it meant about how to get through the door now. I'm small enough, I think. Are the rest of you coming? Oh, but be sure to set the key on the floor so we can get to it."

Raw was the next to pick up a bottle and drink, though the other three followed.

All five of them walked over to the door, which now seemed to be a reasonable size. The key by comparison seemed absurdly big, nearly the length of one of their arms. Cain lifted the key into the lock and turned it.

As soon as the door was unlocked, it flew open towards them, pushed in by the enormous weight of water against it.

All of them were barely able to keep their heads above water as it rushed in, flooding the enormous hallway absurdly fast.

"Bleh, it's saltwater," DG said between gasps for air.

"I guess that's what "Pool of Tears" meant," Cain shouted back. The flood was rapidly pulling them away from each other.

Despite the fact that the water was flooding _in_, they were all still somehow being pulled towards the door.

"Hold your breath!" Jeb shouted as he was pulled underwater.

There was barely enough time to heed his advice before they were all dragged under.

XXX

DG was able to get back above the water without too much difficulty, but when she did, she was alone. One of the empty bottles of the "drink me" potions floated by – now bigger than she was – and she grabbed onto it.

She almost let go when she felt something touch her shoulder.

"Relax, Princess. It's me," said Jeb, grabbing onto the glass as well. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Can you see the others?" She looked around as best she could, but it seemed darker on this side of the door, and the waters in the "pool of tears" were pulling them away from where they'd come in.

"I see something over that way," Jeb said, trying to point while keeping hold on the bottle.

The two of them were able to push the bottle in the direction he'd pointed. They found Raw there, fairly desperately treading water. They helped him to get a hold on the bottle with them.

"Raw, did you see Cain or Glitch?" DG asked.

Raw just shook his head, shivering a little.

"My father and the advisor will be fine," Jeb said.

"I know they will be. I just hope we will be too."

XXX

Glitch coughed out a mouthful of water as Cain pulled him up onto his makeshift raft. Fortunately a book had managed to get washed out in the flood, and it was now serving as a raft of sorts.

"You know, I think I know how to swim," Glitch said once his coughing had subsided.

"Yeah, good thing too."

"Where are we?"

"'The Pool of Tears' I guess. I haven't seen the others since we got to this side of the door."

Cain kept looking around, but it really was like being in some deserted underground sea. There was nothing visible above them, just empty space receding into black. The water was lit faintly by something, like the tunnel had been, but the light source wasn't in evidence. And the water seemed to extend forever in every direction.

"So, where are we headed?" Glitch asked, wringing out his coat as best he could without tilting their raft.

"Wherever the current here is taking us."

"I hope it's somewhere brighter than it is here."

"Yeah, maybe," Cain said, squinting off into the direction they were heading. "Does it look lighter that way?"

Glitch glanced over his shoulder to see what Cain was looking at. "No, not really. But it's not like we have much choice in the matter; we'll see when we get there."

XXX

DG sighed in frustration. It was getting very cold having to rest half in and half out of the water, clinging to the slippery glass. "This is more a sea than a pool. It just goes on and on. I wish I hadn't drunk that stupid potion. If we were the right size, I bet it _would_ be just a pool."

"If we'd been the right size, we couldn't have gotten through. And that door should have opened out onto the first hallway, not onto _this,_" Jeb said.

"I wonder if there'll ever be an end to this water."

"Many tears for someone not sad anymore. End soon," Raw said.

"I hope so, Raw," DG said. "But it looks like it just keeps going."

"I don't think it does. Look that way, Princess," Jeb nodded in the direction behind DG.

She glanced back and almost lost her grip on the bottle when she jumped. At first it had looked like there was someone else there, but it turned out the space behind her was a giant mirrored _wall._ That was why the pool seemed to go on forever that way. But now she could clearly see their reflection.

Knowing that the seemingly endless water was just an illusion made it easier to try and look ahead. And it looked like there was maybe some light that they were heading towards.

Moments later, they found that they were right, and they were washed out the entrance of the cave they'd evidently been in, and into a river.

The current picked up a little, but they were able to kick their way over to the bank of the river, and drag themselves up out of the water.

"There's a house up there," DG said, pointing up a slight hill. "Maybe we can find some help there."

"When we're four inches high?" Jeb asked skeptically.

"Have a better idea?" DG asked back. Without waiting for an answer, she started walking. Raw followed without question, and Jeb reluctantly started after them.

XXX

"I really think it is getting lighter," Cain said, and drew his gun.

"Not that that'll do a lot of good," Glitch said, nodding at Cain's pistol. "It's waterlogged and I'm pretty sure a _cat_ could swallow us whole."

Cain shot him a look, but didn't reply. He just stared ahead of them.

"It is getting lighter," Glitch said.

"Yeah…" Cain trailed off, focusing more intently on where they were headed.

There was a definite point of light in front of them, apparently something like an opening in the cave. They also seemed to be picking up speed towards it.

They didn't have much longer to worry about where they were headed before they were out of the enclosed water, and had come to a rather sudden stop in the middle of a much smaller pool.

They were out of the dark cave they'd been in, but they still weren't properly outside. There was no sky above them, just a faint glow all around.

As strange as that was, their immediate surroundings were even stranger. It seemed like they were in a forest, but instead of trees, mushrooms surrounded them. The mushrooms stretched upward to twice and three times their current height, which would have been large even if they had been the right size. And it looked like there were some that were the size of ordinary trees a little farther on.

"Gods above," Cain swore. "Where are we?"

XXX

Azkadellia leaned back against the bars that separated her cell from Alice's. "I wonder if anyone is coming for me? I almost hope they don't. It's so strange here."

"Don't worry so much," Alice said. "Though I _know_ no one is coming for me, so I don't have to worry about it at all."

"That's sad though. How long have you been stuck here?"

"Oh, I don't know. It certainly feels like it's been a long time, but being by oneself makes it feel that way sometimes. But I'd say probably a few weeks. Though the Queen has been at it longer than that. I was told she's been trying to take over for months, and she just keeps getting stronger."

"I guess being alone does change your perceptions. But it sounds as if your Queen of Hearts started to get nasty as soon as our nastiness was through." Azkadellia sighed. "But, didn't you say Wonderland is a place you made up?"

"It did seem that way. But I wish I hadn't been such a nonsensical child."

"Why? So it would make sense now?"

"Yes. Because ordinary life is quite nonsensical enough, without all of this madness. But I suppose it only makes sense that I would have made a place like this. We often confuse what we wish for with what is."

Azkadellia smiled to herself. "Ordinary life has its own kind of nonsense. But even if I'm locked in a cell, I think I like this kind better."

"Oh yes, compared to what you said happened with the witch…" Alice said.

"Yeah. Seems like that witch and the Queen would have gotten along with each other," Az said. "I hope that we find a way out of here soon though. Before either of us end up losing our heads."


	3. Chapter 3

AN: Sorry for the slightly longer time between postings this time. I've been a bit busy. Reviews are still appreciated.

Chapter 3

"I don't know how we're supposed to get help here if no one will even be able to _see_ us," Jeb said, staring up at the immense door in front of them. It was most likely a perfectly reasonable size, but it certainly seemed giant now.

"Well, we'll just find a way inside, and figure it out from there," DG replied. "Raw, do you see a way in anywhere?"

"This way." Raw started walking towards the corner of the house, and DG and Jeb followed.

This wall had another door in it, but one that wasn't in such good repair as the other. One corner of the door was missing, providing a space just big enough for them to crawl through.

"Good job Raw! This is exactly what we needed," DG said, kneeling down to crawl through.

"Assuming there isn't something waiting in there to eat us," Jeb said.

"You know Jeb, you really take after your father," DG said, now crawling through the hole. She got through and yelled from the other side, "You're both so cynical! But come on through, it looks like a kitchen of some kind. There's no one in here."

Raw and Jeb both climbed through then, and looked around. It did seem to be a kitchen. It was very odd looking at the room from such a different perspective.

"It smells like pepper in here," Jeb said, looking around.

"Hey, do you thing we should try to climb up there?" DG asked, pointing up at the countertops.

"Someone might see us better from there." Jeb nodded.

"But aren't you worried they'll want to eat us?" DG teased.

Jeb turned away, and wandered toward one wall, where a curtain pull hung down to the floor. "We could climb up this," he said.

The climb seemed to take absurdly long, considering it was only a climb of a few feet, but they eventually reached the countertops. The kitchen was still completely deserted except for the three of them.

"Well, it's all well and good to want someone to see us up here, but that hardly helps if we're alone…" DG said. "And what is all this on the counter? It isn't dust…" She picked some up on a finger and sniffed, and promptly stifled a sneeze. "It's pepper!"

"Told you I smelled it," Jeb said.

"You hear something?" Raw asked, tilting his head towards the door opposite where they'd come in.

"No," DG said, sniffling a bit to get the pepper smell out of her nose. "But we could get a little closer to the door. Maybe there's someone out there."

They trekked across the counters, occasionally climbing over utensils or avoiding dishes. The most nerve-wracking part was probably navigating the double sink, trying desperately to not fall in.

They eventually got to the counter closest to the door. They could hear something on the other side of the door. It sounded maybe like someone was arguing, but they couldn't catch any of the words that were being spoken. DG turned and leaned against the edge of a plate, where a batch of cookies was set. All of the cookies had the words "Eat Me" spelled out on them in frosting.

"Well, I am kind of hungry…" DG said, looking back and eying the food.

"What? Are you forgetting what happened the last time you had us follow directions like this? Because I'm pretty sure we're still about four inches tall, and if that food makes us shrink any more, we'll probably just disappear!" Jeb said.

"Hey, and maybe they'll get us back to normal. It's worth trying, isn't it? Besides, I'll try it, and then if I just disappear, you don't have to eat any."

But it was Raw who beat them to it, breaking a handful off of one of the cookies and taking a bite.

For a moment nothing seemed to happen, but then he gradually grew bigger, until he was about normal size, standing next to the counter.

DG and Jeb wasted no time in following his example.

"I never realized how grateful I should be to be normal size," DG sighed and stretched, grateful also that their packs had changed sizes with them.

Jeb was about to say something, but was interrupted by the arguing voice abruptly coming much closer.

"The duchess, her ladyship, won't even matter what I make, she just wants to sit undisturbed, serve her right if she starves in front of her damn mirror. My pepper is making her eyes too red? More that she won't even sleep, she's so vain…"

Raw, Jeb, and DG all hurriedly backed away from the door, just before it was roughly shoved open, and a short old woman bust in, still ranting. "If I had half a brain, I'd let her starve… And now there's rats in the kitchen! I've a mind to kill you all now!"

"Rats?" DG said. 'What are you talking about? Uh, we were just walking by and we… uh… noticed how _wonderful_ it smelled in here." She hoped flattery would maybe keep them from whatever this woman wanted to do to them.

"Maybe you're not rats," the old woman said, eyeing them suspiciously. "Or maybe you're new servants. All look the same to me. Well get out of here," she said, reaching behind her and grabbing a broom leaning in the corner. "Get out into the other room, before I chase you there myself."

The three edged cautiously around her, though she _probably _wasn't really very threatening.

Finally getting past her and out the door, they looked around where they were now. It was a large open room, with a couch set in the center. A woman lay on the couch, holding a mirror up in front of her face. A cat lounged on a chair set across from the couch. Otherwise the room was very empty.

"Are you… the Duchess?" DG asked, stepping forward cautiously.

The woman moved her mirror slightly, and looked at them. She was very beautiful, but she seemed supremely bored with them. She yawned exaggeratedly, and looked back at her mirror before answering, "Hmm… some days. I'm sure I still have her head around her somewhere. It's such an ugly thing. I might have gotten rid of it months ago."

"Her _head?_" DG asked incredulously.

"Well, the rest of her wasn't much use, was it? Not after the Queen of Hearts was through with her. She has a temper, that one. Beheading people for the silliest things…"

"You kept her head after she was beheaded?"

"Well, why not? It made it absurdly easy to take over her life. She shan't miss it. And anyway, I am much more beautiful than she. Don't you think?"

"Er… yes. You're very beautiful. But could you tell us how to get to the Queen of Hearts?"

"I'm not sure this head suits me at all today," the woman sighed, toying with a ribbon tied around her neck.

"I'm sorry, but can you tell us what we want to know, or not?" Jeb interrupted.

"I think I'll change heads. Maybe the other one will have a better idea." The woman stretched and held out a hand.

It took DG a moment to realize she was expected to take it and help her up. She did so, but she wasn't really sure how long she wanted to stay in the company of someone accustomed to stealing heads. "Wait, if you're not the duchess, then who are you?" DG asked, suddenly curious.

"My name is Princess Langwidere," she answered. "Follow me."

"Princess Langwidere?" Jeb asked. "The ageless princess of the E.V.? That's impossible."

"How do you know my name, little boy?" Princess Langwidere asked, winking at him flirtatiously. "Follow me, and maybe one of my heads will be able to help you."

"Who?" whispered DG under her breath. It seemed offensive to ask loudly enough for the princess to hear.

"A princess from the E.V., the Endless Vast, bordering the O.Z. She's something of a fairy tale really. A princess who stayed young forever just by finding new and beautiful heads, and then suddenly disappeared. She's very vain… I doubt any of her heads know anything except for how to examine their own beauty."

Raw was following along slightly behind them. "She is… strange…" he muttered, but wouldn't say anything else.

Princess Langwidere led them down a long hall, to a room lined with glass cases, all filled with heads. DG's first thought was that they were mannequin heads displaying wigs, but she quickly realized that wasn't true. Several of the heads turned a bit to look at them as they entered the room, and it definitely _felt_ like they were being stared at. Without a doubt, this was the creepiest room she'd ever been in.

The princess went to one of the cases and untied the ribbon from around her neck. She removed her head, and placed it in the case. Even headless, she had no problem moving to another case, and getting a new head to put on, retying the ribbon. This head had long dark hair, rather than blonde as the other one had.

She turned and faced them. "Well, now. You want to get to the Queen of Hearts?"

"Yes," DG said, shifting where she was standing. "Please."

"Well, I'm afraid I don't have much information for you. I haven't had much use for her. Except to furnish my need for new heads, of course."

"Can you just tell us where she is?" DG asked.

"I don't think I remember…" she sighed. "You know, your head is lovely. You have very distinctive eyes. Different from the rest of my collection."

DG stepped back as the princess reached to touch her face.

Seeing DG's reaction, Langwidere sighed again, stifling a yawn. "I think I should go sit down."

DG took a slow breath, trying to keep from screaming at the woman.

Princess Langwidere turned and started to walk out of the room.

Raw reached over and grabbed DG's arm, keeping her from rushing after the other woman. "Wait," he said.

He reached out and opened one of the glass cases, and lightly touched one of the heads. There was a jumble of information briefly reflected in the glass before he jerked his hands away as if he'd been burned.

"Raw, don't. Not if it hurts…" DG said. "All those heads…"

"Many different thoughts, but all… same." Raw swallowed, and put his hand out to the glass again.

Images flashed again, but Raw didn't pull his hand away. After a moment he reached out to another head. More images – some the same as the ones before, others different – appeared and disappeared. The odd lack of coherency was even making DG dizzy, so she didn't want to contemplate how it must feel to Raw.

"Queen's castle… East and south." Raw let go then, and the images disappeared.

"Thank you Raw," DG said, hugging him.

"Okay, we should get going," Jeb said.

"Yeah," DG agreed, turning to lead the way down the hallway back to the door.

She nearly tripped over the cat they'd seen in the other room. It fixed them all with a very pointed stare, as if it were studying them. It also seemed to be grinning, which was rather disconcerting. Then it turned and bounded off down the hallway.

DG ran after it, and the others followed. By the time they got back to the living room, the cat was nowhere to be seen. Princess Langwidere was back to lounging on her couch, admiring herself in her hand mirror.

"Where did your cat go?" DG asked, walking past the princess, heading for the front door.

"Oh, probably nowhere. I think he likes it there."

DG shook her head, and went to the door. "We're leaving," she said. "Goodbye." It seemed rude to leave without a word, but the princess had also been very unhelpful.

Langwidere didn't even look up.

Jeb opened the door and left without looking back. DG and Raw followed.

Outside, they looked around. They could see better where they were, now that they were normal height, but they weren't any less lost.

The blackness above gave no clue to the time or their direction, and the shifting light around them added its own kind of confusion.

"Raw said we go southeast?" Jeb said.

Raw nodded.

"But which way is that?" DG asked.

XXX

The mushrooms only grew larger as Cain and Glitch walked on. They'd picked a fairly random direction to start off in, figuring that any direction away from the cave was good.

The alien landscape was difficult to navigate, and was made worse by the lack of a sky to provide reference. Instead, looking up they could only see receding blackness. The whole place was still lit by a seemingly sourceless glow. The quality of the light seemed to continually change, casting vaguely red light one minute, shifting to blue or purple the next, and then to green or yellow, or back to red.

"Do you smell that?" Glitch asked. "It smells like smoke or perfume or something."

"I don't know what it is. Just keep walking." Though Cain found the smell vaguely disturbing. It was just on the edge of familiar, and was bringing up some very negative emotions, though he couldn't place them yet.

"You don't know what what is?" Glitch asked.

"The smell. Now look out, we're going to have to climb up over this branch." Cain helped Glitch over the obstacle, which was probably only a few inches high.

"Look that way." Cain pointed. "There's smoke rising. Maybe there's someone living that way." The smell was still unsettling, but the possibility of finding someone before they were irrevocably lost was a much larger draw.

A journey of probably a few yards took them far too long, but finally they reached the source of the smoke tendrils.

"Oh, you cannot be serious," Cain said, stopping in his tracks.

Glitch bumped into him before he stopped himself. "What is that?" he asked Cain. "Because it looks like a giant caterpillar sitting and smoking."

"It does look that way."

"Though I suppose we're still so small it may just be a regular sized caterpillar sitting and smoking."

"It could be. But shockingly, that's not really a comfort."

"Who…" the caterpillar started. "Are you?" he finished after a long pause, exhaling a cloud of smoke.

"Well, we're just looking for something," Glitch said. "I think."

"And it _talks._ Why does it surprise me that it _talks?_" Cain asked under his breath. Then louder he addressed the caterpillar. "Yes, we're looking for _someone_; the Queen of Hearts. Do you know where she is?"

"Who are you?" The caterpillar asked again.

"My name is Cain. This is Glitch. We're looking for the Queen of Hearts. Do you know where she is?"

"Why do you need to find her?" the caterpillar asked lazily. He'd shifted from where he was sitting, so now he was facing them. The long pipe he was smoking was held in one stubby foot.

"It's very important," Cain said. "Can you help us, or should we be on our way?"

The caterpillar laughed then, a manic, uncontrolled laughter. "You should find what you want. Dream up your answers so you'll know what it means, find what you seek in your own mind to have all you need."

"Oh, _that_ is helpful," Glitch said. "Our guide has the most inane advice imaginable. We're going then." Glitch started to walk away, past the caterpillar.

"No, you should dream…" said the caterpillar, shifting suddenly and coming between them.

"It sounds like-" Cain started.

Glitch turned around, looking back at Cain. The caterpillar curved up, putting his face directly in front of Glitch's. Glitch took a step back, and his gaze turned back to Cain. This time he looked a little frightened, or at least unsure.

The caterpillar breathed out a cloud of smoke then. Glitch began coughing hard, doubling over before falling to the ground, unable to catch his breath.

Cain drew his gun, despite the fact it was probably useless, and aimed at the caterpillar's head.

The caterpillar twisted to face him then, taking another draw on the long pipe. "Dream in bliss…" he whispered. "All you want."

Then he lunged forward toward Cain, breathing more smoke as he did so. The motion surprised Cain, and he gasped as he stumbled backwards. Moments later he cursed himself, first for trying to dodge _a caterpillar_, and second for forgetting what he'd been about to say to Glitch. _"It sounds like he's on the witch's vapors,"_ he'd been about to say. And now he'd breathed in the smoke. It burned his lungs and he started coughing too, unable to catch his breath.

He'd never used the vapors, though plenty had been passed through the ranks of the Tin Men. It was one of the first ways the witch tried to sway others to her side. But a certain tang in the smoke now was very like the scent the vapors had. Cain kept the presence of mind long enough to wonder if it was more powerful in smoke form than vapor, and to look over to where Glitch was laying before he collapsed.

XXX

Moments later there was a light touch on Cain's arm. He roused sleepily from where he was lying.

"What happened?" he asked, sitting up.

"You have a fever. You need to stay in bed." Adora answered, pushing him gently back onto the bed.

"What?" his eyes snapped open to focus on her. He reached over to grab her hand.

Adora smiled at him, putting a cloth over his forehead. "You, dear husband, are ill. Stay in bed. The Mystic Man won't begrudge you one day off from your detail. You won't be much use if you can't even stand."

He glanced around. It was his home, and this was his bedroom. Adora was sitting at a chair next to their bed, smiling down at him.

"Where's Glitch?" Cain asked, rubbing his head through the damp cloth Adora had put there.

"Who?" Adora asked. "I think you may be sicker than I though! I don't think you've ever mentioned him before. Is he another Tin Man?"

"What? No. He's an advisor to the queen. We were doing something important." Cain sighed. His head felt fuzzy. He couldn't remember what they'd been doing.

"An advisor to the queen? Love, you are fevered. You work in the Mystic Man's guard in Central City, nowhere near the palace. You were home for a few days leave, and got sick. You can set off to return to the city tomorrow. You've been here, certainly not off with any palace advisors. I think you've been dreaming."

"Maybe…" Cain closed his eyes. "Where's Jeb?"

"Oh, off playing, I expect. Just rest."

_Azkadellia is in trouble. I can't rest._

Cain sat up again. The cloth fell onto his lap. "No. I have to go. It's important."

Adora sighed, giving him an all-too-patient look, as if she were talking to a small child. "The Mystic Man is important, but one day is _not._ You are ill, and so you should just enjoy your extra day off. Relax."

_Glitch looked scared. Is he okay?_

"No, I really have to go." Cain pulled the blankets off, and tried to get out of bed. "Azkadellia is in trouble. Glitch might be hurt."

"Wyatt, you were dreaming!" Adora yelled. "Go back to bed!"

Cain was taken aback at how angry she'd sounded. She'd never been some wilting flower, but she wasn't ever so _harsh _either.

He sat back down.

Adora smiled at him again. "I'll go get you some tea. Stay here."

Cain just sat, trying to remember what could have been so important. Surely it would be better to wait here. He'd be better in a day or so, and could do whatever needed doing then.

"No. You need to go now."

Cain turned to face the voice, automatically reaching for a gun he wasn't carrying. "What, the Mystic Man? But you're in Central City. I really am sick."

The Mystic Man was standing near the foot of the bed. "No, Wyatt, you're not. And I'm not in Central City anymore. The witch killed me. You remember. You aren't on the vapors like I was. Your mind isn't gone yet."

"What? But sir…"

"No Cain, listen to me. You are a Tin Man, and that means you are a protector. You need to protect those who rely on you, and you won't do that from a dream world. Azkadellia is counting on you. DG and the queen are counting on you. The advisor needs you too. This is not real."

A strange type of memory hit Cain. It was like recalling a very long dream all at once, even when he didn't want to. This couldn't be real. He remembered Glitch and the princesses, but hadn't met them until after Adora… until after she died.

"If you're dead, why are you here?" he asked, forcing his voice to stay level.

"The O.Z. is very important to me. If I can protect it in ways I failed to before, I want to. And right now it is very important that you wake up. This woman is not your wife. She is your memory of her, and the smoke acting to give you a blissful dream of what you loved. But if you stay here with her, the other people important to you will die as well. The princesses. The Viewer. The advisor you're so determined to protect. Your son."

Cain closed his eyes. He loved Adora, but she was gone. He knew it, and no matter how much he wanted it, he couldn't pretend that this was real.

He opened his eyes to see the forest of mushrooms stretching up above him.

XXX

Glitch sat up abruptly. The cushions behind him slid and he almost fell back.

"Mr. Ambrose?" The voice was quiet and nervous.

Glitch turned to face the speaker. It was a young boy, probably in his mid-teens, dressed in a palace servant's uniform. He was holding a tray of food, which he offered to Glitch. "Mr. Ambrose, sir. The queen asked me to bring you food. You've been here for a long time. I wasn't trying to wake you, sir."

Glitch looked around. He was on a balcony of the palace of the Northern Island. It wasn't winter; the sun was warm and pleasant, and he wasn't cold, despite being dressed only in his advisor's uniform. Looking out over the grounds he could see the lake. It'd be cold even now, but it wasn't frozen.

He turned back to the servant boy, who was shifting his weight nervously from side to side. He must have been new.

"I'm sorry," Ambrose said. "I must have drifted off. You can leave the tray; thank Her Majesty for me."

The boy nodded and set the tray on the table by Ambrose's seat before darting off.

Ambrose stood up and moved to the railing of the balcony. He leaned on it and breathed deeply, taking in the feeling of peace. It seemed like it had been a long time since he'd been able to. But that was silly, wasn't it? There'd never been anything else.

Something almost occurred to him in the back of his mind, like the quick flash of a dream you've forgotten. Something about a time when peace had been all but forgotten… or something he needed to do. _DG and Azkadellia…_ but the thought was gone before he could grasp it. The girls were fine, probably playing in the palace somewhere.

He went back to the small couch he'd been sitting on. The thought was bothering him. He wasn't used to forgetting things, but he tried to shrug it off. It had probably been a dream he'd had while sitting here. Instead he tried to turn his attention to something useful. Wouldn't it be nice to make this palace habitable the entire year round? The palace itself was, of course, but the lake would freeze over when winter set in. For a few weeks that would be enjoyable, when the winter festival would be held, but after a while, the cold ice would be tiresome.

Ambrose had another strange flash of memory then. A man nearly freezing on that ice. Ambrose having to save him. The man was dressed like a Tin Man.

Ambrose shook his head. That was ridiculous as well. He didn't know any Tin Men; not beyond the few that occasionally made up a guard for him or for the royal family. _Except Cain_. The name came to him immediately, but her couldn't pull up anything about the man.

"Must have been some dream," he sighed aloud.

"Sir, is there anything I can get you?" a girl asked from the door.

Ambrose turned to face her. She was pretty, also dressed as a palace servant. He didn't recognize her either, but that wasn't very surprising.

"No, I don't need anything. I was just thinking," he answered. _Thinking about what?_ he wondered. Suddenly he couldn't remember.

"You've been here alone all day, I was just wondering if you needed anything."

"No, no. Does the queen need me?" He found it slightly odd that he hadn't heard from her at all.

"No, she's fine. Shall I leave you then?" She bowed.

"Yes, I'm fine." He looked back to the lake. Something felt deeply _wrong,_ but he couldn't say why. Everything seemed perfectly fine and lovely.

_But Azkadellia needs help. And where's Cain?_ That same name again. _What happened to him?_ That flash again of a man in the ice and snow. Offering a hand to help Ambrose up from the floor. Showing concern for Ambrose, and Ambrose knew he felt the same concern for him. But he didn't know the man. He wasn't in contact with Tin Men.

Ambrose reached for the small bottle of wine that had been with the food the servant boy had brought him. Pouring a glass and taking a sip, the worries he had started to fade. He leaned back into the comfortable embrace of the cushions, trying to let all his worries disappear. Dreams were dreams, and life was life. He could sit and ponder the fate of someone who likely did not exist, or he could enjoy a beautiful summer day.

He shook his head, and forced himself to sit up. "No," he said aloud.

Something was important about this, and he couldn't let it just disappear. Besides, even if it was all in his head, he was already considered eccentric; it would just be in keeping with his personality.

He stood and turned to go back into the palace. He could at least ask the queen about it. Or even just check the record books in the palace libraries. They would have a registration of the O.Z.'s Tin Men, and he could see if there was a 'Cain' on the list. _Wyatt Cain._

But before he could get inside, the two servants from before blocked his way. "Ambrose, sir, you should stay here," the boy said, while the girl nodded.

"It's a very lovely day," she added. "You shouldn't spend it inside. You need a break, and so you should just sit and enjoy your time here."

"What?" Ambrose shook his head. "No, I need to go. Let me past."

"Please stay here." The girl pushed forward, standing right up against him. "We can do _anything_ you want us to do."

"Much better than going and looking through dusty books…" the boy insisted, stepping forward as well.

Ambrose stepped back from them. Their offer was not tempting in the _least._ "No!" he shouted, pushing past them.

Both of them made grabs for his arms, but he avoided them, and started running through his rooms. He hit the hallway quickly, but the palace seemed entirely deserted. There was no doubt in his mind now that this was completely wrong.

"It's not real," he whispered. "This is the dream, it isn't real." He tried to slow his breathing and think. Why couldn't he just think it through correctly?

"Glitch!"

Ambrose heard the shout, and immediately wanted to answer it. _But that's not my name…_

"Glitch, come on!"

"Cain?" he asked, spinning around. He recognized the voice, but was alone in the hallway still.

"Come on, you're fine," the voice assured. "It's the vapors. You're dreaming. Just wake up."

XXX

Glitch felt pressure on his shoulder, and opened his eyes. Cain was kneeling next to him, shaking him. They were still in the dark mushroom forest.

"Gods, Cain. The vapors…"

"Yeah, I know. I got hit too. But we're fine now, right?"

Glitch nodded shakily, sitting up.

Cain helped him to his feet. "Come on Sweetheart. We've got to get out of here. The caterpillar thing seems to have retreated into his own fantasy, so we should be able to get away."

Glitch nodded a little numbly, looking at the caterpillar, who seemed asleep except that he was blowing smoke rings up in the air. "Cain, what do you think a caterpillar dreams about?"

"Probably about being a butterfly," Cain said without thinking. He decided that someday he would ask Glitch what he had dreamed about.

XXX

Azkadellia sighed, stretching. "Well, Alice. If you created this place, do you think you can change it any?"

"What? Oh, well, I suppose so. I have a little before. But usually not very usefully. I tried to make mushrooms grow over here and it didn't work, but when the Queen gave me some really awful food, I was able to make it better. I think the Queen is just stronger than I am, so if she's trying to keep me from doing something, I can't."

"Do you think you could get into the same cell as me?" Az asked. "I don't think she'd let us get out, but maybe we could at least be in the same cell."

"It's worth a try, I suppose," Alice replied, standing up. "Hmm…" she sighed, putting her hands on the bars.

Moments later, Az caught her as she fell forward through the bars.

"Hey, you did it!" Az congratulated her. "You really are some kind of a witch."

"Oh, but I don't want to be a witch," Alice said, eyes wide.

"Witches aren't all bad," Azkadellia said. "My sister and I are witches of a sort too… it's just some that go bad."

"Oh…" Alice replied. She walked to the door of Azkadellia's cell, and leaned on the bars the same way she had before. Nothing happened. "I didn't expect that to work," she sighed, sitting on the bench against the wall.

Azkadellia sat next to her. "There has to be a way out of here," she said, crossing her arms. "We're both intelligent, and we both have at least some magic. We can't be stuck here."

"But we aren't stronger than the queen," Alice said.

"We have to try."


	4. Chapter 4

AN: Sorry for how late I am getting this chapter up. (Not that I exactly have hordes waiting to find out what happens.) But I was out of state visiting family, and was without internet access for a few weeks, so I wasn't able to post anything. As always, I appreciate reviews!

Adventures Underground

Chapter 4

"Well," DG said, looking out over the river. "We could just pick a direction. Probably not toward the mountain again, and I'm a fan of heading away from the princess's house. So… two directions open to us. Which to take?"

"We could follow the river a ways. See where that takes us." Jeb suggested.

"Good a plan as any," she replied, and the three started walking.

"You could always head to the bridge and see what's on the other side."

"What?" DG asked.

"I didn't say anything," Jeb said. "I thought you said it."

"Who said what?"

DG and Jeb both looked down. Langwidere's grinning cat was walking between them.

"The cat?" DG asked.

"What cat?" The cat asked. "He didn't say anything." The cat turned to face Raw.

Raw growled.

"Did you say we should cross the bridge?" Jeb asked.

"What bridge?" The cat grinned up at them.

DG sighed, resisting the urge to throw her backpack at the damn feline.

Jeb pointed. "It looks like there's a bridge over there."

"Why do you grin that way, when you're being no help at all?" DG asked.

"I'm a Cheshire cat, and that is why," the cat answered. "Now are you crossing that bridge or not?"

"Well, should we?" Jeb asked.

"Should you cross the bridge? I don't know. You wanted to, it seemed," the cat stretched and began to walk ahead of them a little.

"Well, can you tell us which way to go?" DG asked, following him.

The cat was silent for a while, as he sauntered on. "Well, that really does depend on where you want to end up." The cat said, finally stepping onto the bridge.

"We want to find the Queen of Hearts," DG answered.

The cat turned its head back to look at them, and disappeared. Not that it had walked off, but that it was just quite suddenly gone.

"The Queen of Hearts, hm? So you want to end up dead?"

Jeb turned around the fastest. The cat was now behind them. "No, I'd really rather that we _didn't_ die."

"I don't think the queen cares for dice games, but she will most likely have stacked the deck."

DG resisted the urge to scream at the cat. He was as useless as the damn princess! "Are you going to be any help at all?"

The cat cocked his head to the side and disappeared again.

"Go to the house there and help yourselves," he said, now perched on the corner post of the bridge. "But beware the Jabberwock, and shun the frumious Bandersnatch."

"Why do you have to just give us riddles? Why can't you just give us a real answer?" Jeb asked angrily.

"I be a cat, and no cat anywhere ever gave anyone a straight answer." The cat jumped down from the post, and slowly faded out, disappearing entirely before he hit the ground.

DG looked around, but the cat did not reappear. "Well," she sighed. "Shall we go across then?"

"Yeah," Jeb said, looking around. "It's as much direction as we have. Let me go first though." He drew his gun and started across the bridge.

DG followed him, and Raw stayed behind her.

The other side of the bridge connected to a very nice little paved pathway. It wound its way through the tall grass up to a little house. The house itself looked innocuous enough. It was made of red brick, and had several large windows. The whole thing was surrounded by a large garden.

The three continued up to it. While it was lovely and peaceful feeling, all of them were expecting danger.

A scrap of paper fluttered onto the path, and DG picked it up. It appeared to be a scrap torn from a book. It had some writing on it, but it was completely illegible. She sighed and stuffed it in a pocket.

Jeb went up to the door and knocked. When there was no answer, he tried to open it, but the door was locked. DG went and looked in one of the windows, but there didn't appear to be anyone inside.

"I suppose it's not really worth trying to break in. But I wonder whose house this is," DG asked. "It looks strange inside, somehow."

Jeb and Raw joined her at the window.

"Backwards," Raw said after looking in for a moment.

"He's right," Jeb said, looking harder. "See the book on the table? The title is written backwards, and it looks like that should be the back cover."

"Weird…" DG said. "I wonder why?"

"Well, the room is full of mirrors. I guess someone here really likes reflections," Jeb answered.

"Backwards…" DG said, trailing off. She pulled the scrap of paper out of her pocked and held it up to the window, so she could see the reflection of the writing.

Now it was legible, and she read aloud what it said. "'Jabberwocky. 'Twas brillig and the slithy toves did gyre and gimble in the wabe; all mimsy were the borogoves, and the mome raths outgrabe.'" That was all that the paper had on it, though it looked like it could have continued beyond where it was torn.

"That's incredibly nonsensical," Jeb remarked, looking at the reflected words.

"Everything in this place is nonsensical," DG said. "But I wonder what the rest could have said. And didn't the cat say something about a Jabberwock or a Jabberwocky?"

"Maybe. I don't think we'll ever know what the rest said, and considering the amount of sense that _doesn't_ make, it wouldn't help us anyway," Jeb said.

"What's that there?" DG said, looking up. There was a ledge above the window with a sign hung just below it. The sign was blank from the front, but the back had words that were reflected very clearly in the window: "Help Yourself."

"Help ourselves to what?" Jeb wondered.

DG stood on her toes and reached up onto the top of the ledge. Her fingers brushed something, so she pulled it down. "It's… a sword," she said.

She drew the sword from its sheath to examine it. The blade had a strange quality to it. The metal didn't appear to reflect at all, but rather to absorb light.

"Are you sure you should take that?" Jeb asked.

"Well, the cat said that we should 'go to the house and help ourselves,' so that's what I'm doing. Besides, the sign said it too."

"Keep moving," Raw said.

DG nodded. "You're right. We should keep moving. I guess we can follow the path through the gardens. It looks like it keeps going. I hope Azkadellia is okay…"

Raw gripped her shoulder for a moment, and smiled at her when she looked back at him.

"Thank you, Raw."

"Don't worry princess. We'll get there in time," Jeb said.

DG sighed, tucking the sheathed sword through her belt. "Yes, we will. Lets go."

That turned out to be harder than it appeared though. The path _seemed_ to go on in the direction they were trying to go, but then would suddenly turn, and point them back toward the house. And every time they tried to leave the path, they'd find their way blocked by some ornamental bush or tree.

"Oh, this is ridiculous!" DG yelled, as they ended up in yet another garden.

She swore she heard someone giggle after her exclamation, but Jeb and Raw were still walking, and neither of them would _giggle._

"If I tell you something weird," DG said, "will you think I'm crazy?"

"Yes, I expect so," Jeb replied. He was distracted, looking at some of the flowers bordering the path.

She glared at his back, but still said what she'd wanted to. "I think I just heard someone laugh."

"All that's here besides us are the flowers," Jeb said. "So, yes, I think you're crazy."

A laugh came again, a little louder this time.

Jeb jumped.

"Hah! There is no way you didn't hear that," DG said.

"But it came from the flowers! Flowers can't talk!"

"Of course we can! If there's anyone worth talking to," a tiger lily by Jeb said.

"Or about," giggled a daisy behind DG.

"I'm not so sure any of _you_ qualify," said a foxglove from Jeb's other side.

"It's true," added an iris next to Raw's leg. "Look at the strange petals they have. _This_ one has far too many. Maybe it could pass as some kind of dandelion, but certainly not a chrysanthemum, or even a marigold."

"Oh, Iris, you say that of everyone," a sweet William said from DG's left.

The tiger lily spoke again. "Well, I'm not sure what type of flowers they may be. The moving ones are ever so difficult to keep track of."

"Are there other, er, 'flowers' like us in the garden? Others that move around?" DG asked.

"Well, a few sometimes. There was that one that said she was an 'Alice,' but heaven only knows what an Alice is," a rose said.

"And there are the loud ones that shake the ground so that one can barely stay up," said a morning glory indignantly. "Those ones will be coming back all too soon."

"Yes, the ones with four stems are so much louder than the ones with only two," the tiger lily agreed.

"Excuse me," DG said.

"I will _not_. You've no proper petals at all," a pansy spoke up.

"Can you tell us how to get to the Queen of Hearts?" DG asked.

"I've never heard of such a flower," the foxglove said. "Is it like Queen Anne's Lace?"

"If we haven't heard of her, she mustn't be worth knowing at all," the daisies said together.

"Oh, be quiet before I make a daisy chain out of you!" DG yelled at them.

"Oh dear, the loud ones must be coming. I can feel the ground shaking already," the morning glory complained.

As the morning glory said it, DG realized it was right. The ground did seem to be shaking a little.

Jeb grabbed DG's hand. "Come on, let's get out of here. I think the path leads up that hill. Maybe from there we'll be able to see where we need to go."

"Okay. Come on, Raw," said DG, offering him her other hand.

All three of them ran up the hill, afraid that if they went too slowly the path would do something strange again.

At the top of the hill, they were able to see what the flowers had referred to as the "loud ones." Two animals were running around chasing each other, and making a great deal of noise doing so.

"Is that… a lion and a unicorn?" Jeb asked, staring. "I mean, talking flowers are one thing, mythical creatures are another."

"Well, _a_ mythical creature. Lions don't count, do they?"

Jeb and Raw looked at her. "Lions haven't existed since the time of the First Slipper. She befriended a lion, back when the animals themselves had magic in them. It's said that that was where the Viewers came from… the First Slipper's lion's descendants that had magic that allowed them to become more human, rather than dumb beasts. But a real lion hasn't existed for centuries," Jeb explained.

"The Lion and the Unicorn were fighting for the crown, the Lion beat the Unicorn all through the town…" DG said softly.

"What?"

"An old nursery rhyme from Earth. Well, should we try to talk to them?" she asked.

But before they could decide whether to approach the creatures, the creatures approached them.

"I do believe that I won that time, my friend," the unicorn said. "Wouldn't _you_ agree," he added to DG.

"Well, it looked fairly even where we were standing."

The lion sighed, coming to sit in front of them. "No, no need to spare my feelings, child. I know I lost that time."

"Can _you_ help us find the Queen of Hearts?" DG asked, trying very hard not to stare at the unicorn.

"Well, why would you want to find her?" the unicorn asked.

"She has my sister, and we have to save her," DG said. "Before it's too late."

"Ah," the lion said. "She's making a habit of taking important people, isn't she?"

"Yes, she took Queen Alice just last month. Poor child. First I ever saw. Before that I thought they were all make believe."

"I thought unicorns were make believe creatures. And I'm afraid I don't know about Alice, but can you tell us how to find the Queen?" DG asked.

"Well, when Alice and I saw each other, we resolved to believe in each other," the unicorn answered.

"But, yes, we could take you the Queen of Hearts," the lion said. "Or at least closer. I don't much fancy trying to make it into the palace itself."

"Will you please show us?" DG asked.

"Of course. Just follow us," the unicorn said, starting back down the pathway, with the lion close behind.

XXX

They continued on for quite a while, and the lion and the unicorn made polite conversation with them.

The lion seemed fascinated by Raw, so the two of them were walking together talking quietly.

The unicorn was more interested in DG and Jeb, since it seemed to regard the two of them as being a very rare species.

DG and Jeb got the story of how Alice was made queen before she disappeared, but that the Queen of Hearts had kidnapped her before she could take the throne once she returned.

DG wondered if Alice was okay. If the Queen of Hearts had captured her so long ago, she may have been beheaded already. But hopefully they'd get to the palace soon enough to stop the Queen of Hearts for good, and then both Azkadellia and Alice would be safe.

Jeb grabbed DG's arm during a lull in the conversation and pulled her back. "Do you think it's a bit weird that they're being so helpful?" he asked quietly.

"What? No. They're just nice creatures," she whispered back.

"Maybe… but I have a feeling that they're leading us into something dangerous."

"We know the Queen is dangerous. But we have to get there."

"Not just that, but like they're really going to leave us somewhere where we could be killed."

"You sound like your father. Don't be such a cynic. They're helping us, and that's all that matters right now."

The journey continued in silence for a little longer. Finally, at the top of a hill, the lion looked downward toward a large hedge with a single opening and said, "Well, that's the entrance to the Queen's chess maze. I don't know how to get through the maze, so you'll have to do that on your own. But the Queen of Hearts is in the castle in the center."

"Thank you," DG said.

The five of them continued down to the entrance of the maze.

Two figures suddenly emerged from the darkened opening in the hedges.

It was a pair of women, one dressed entirely in white, and one entirely in red. Both had tight metal collars around their necks, and chains hooked to their wrists as well, but they each also had a crown on their heads, and held long bladed lances. Together they said, "This is the Queen's maze. No one is allowed inside. You, trespassers, shall be put to death by we, the White Queen and the Red Queen."

The lion and the unicorn took off running. The unicorn called back, "Good luck little mythical beasts!"

"It's a real burn being right all the time," Jeb said, glancing pointedly at DG before drawing his gun.

DG drew her sword and stepped back, but wasn't able to reply, as the two women attacked.

XXX

Cain and Glitch had just gotten out of sight of the caterpillar, when they heard something very large moving toward them.

Cain pulled Glitch under a mushroom nearby, trying to hide from whatever it was.

Soon it was in view, and revealed itself to be a tabby-striped cat. Cain remembered what Glitch had said earlier, _"I'm pretty sure a _cat_ could swallow us whole."_ This one certainly seemed like it quite possibly could.

But it made no attempt to find them. Instead it simply licked one of the nearby mushrooms, and promptly shrank down to about their size.

Then it walked deliberately over to them and sat down, seeming to _grin_ at them, before proclaiming, "On side will make you grow taller, and one side will make you grow shorter."

"One side of what?" Glitch asked.

"The mushroom, of course," the cat said.

"This is _mad,_" Glitch said.

"Of course it's mad. Everyone here is mad. I certainly am."

"Oh, are you?" Cain asked.

"Of course. A dog is sane as the next thing, whenever it wags its tail or growls. But here I am and I growl when I'm happy and wag my tail when I'm angry. Does that seem sane to you?"

"You aren't a dog though," Glitch protested.

"See, you are clearly mad as well; I never said I was. Now, eat your mushroom so you can get somewhere properly."

The cat disappeared then, as if it had never been there in the first place.

"We may as well try. I'm tired of being only a few inches high. Which side is which though?" Cain asked, examining the mushroom. "I really don't want to be any smaller than this."

"Well, the cat licked that mushroom on that side. So if we try from _this_ side…" Glitch said.

Cain reached up and broke some off. "Well, if I shrink, don't eat any."

He took a bite. For a moment it didn't seem like anything was happening, but then he was slowly growing. It was an odd feeling, just as shrinking had been. Fortunately he stopped at about what he figured his normal height would be. He was careful to stay still so he wouldn't hit Glitch.

A few seconds later, Glitch was back to normal size as well.

"Very good. Being small is always so annoying. You rarely get anywhere."

Cain turned around to see that the cat was back, now a normal size for a cat, but sitting on what was still an unusually large mushroom.

"Thank you for helping us," Cain said. "But which way should we go now?"

"Well, the March Hare and the Mad Hatter both live around here. You could go visit them. They'll both be at the Hatter's though, I expect."

"A mad hatter? I think we'd really rather find someone _sane,_" Glitch said.

"Well, you're out of luck there," the cat said. "We're all mad here, you see."

"Can you help us find the Queen of Hearts?" Cain asked.

"So many people just waiting to lose their heads," the cat said, still smiling.

"And of course we'd find the psychopath that is happy that we'll die. You grin far too widely," Glitch said.

"I'm a Cheshire cat, and that is why," the cat said.

"Do you know where the Queen is or not?" Cain asked.

"Hm… which queen?" the cat asked. "Queen Mary? Queen Anne? Queen Alice? The Red Queen, the White Queen? So many queens to choose from."

"The Queen of Hearts," Cain said. "Do you know where she is?"

"Oh, yes," the cat replied. "She's in the same place as Queen Alice."

"And where is that?"

"Where is what?"

"Where are the queens?"

"The queen was in the parlor, eating bread and honey," the cat laughed.

"Fine. Where are the Mad Hatter and the March Hare then?" Cain asked.

"Well, you could go either way," the cat smiled, "But the fastest way would be to go the right way. Which is to your left."

"We'll go left then," Cain said, grabbing Glitch's arm and pulling him away.

"Cain, I think that cat was talking to us," Glitch said.

"I think you're right. Let's go."

"If you make it to the Queen's palace," the cat called out from behind them, "then I'll meet you there!"

Cain turned to look at the cat just in time to see it fade away, stripe by stripe.

XXX

A few minutes of walking led the two of them to a large gate in a hedge, which was standing open. They could hear conversation coming from the other side of the gate, and so they went in.

They could only assume that this was the house where the Mad Hatter and the March Hare lived. A man in an oversized hat was sitting at one end of a long table set up with an assortment of teacups and teapots, as well as plates set with cakes and sandwiches. On his right was a hare, dressed in a rather nice jacket, and sipping tea while the Hatter spoke. A dormouse was sleeping on top of a cake set between them.

"Excuse us," Cain started.

"Oh, you see there, that's _exactly_ what I'm talking about," the Hatter said. "But at least they know better than to just take a seat before they've been invited."

"Yes, yes, please sit down," the March Hare said gesturing with one paw.

Cain and Glitch rather delicately sat down on one side of the table.

"We were wondering, would you be able to tell us how to find the Queen of Hearts?" Cain asked.

"Well, it's not very polite to just start asking questions before one has even been properly introduced," the Hatter remarked.

Before Cain and Glitch could introduce themselves though, the Hare started to speak. "If you want to find her, have you considered looking for her?"

"Well, we have been, and we just don't know where to look," Glitch started.

"Have some tea," the Mad Hatter said, pushing a cup into Glitch's hand.

"Oh, thank you," he said, distracted from what he'd been saying.

"I'm afraid that we don't have time to stay," Cain said.

"No, of course not. Time left us ever so long ago, ever since we fought with him. I haven't seen Time in ages it seems. Even though he's kept it at teatime for ever so long, he never comes to visit."

Cain was vaguely confused by this. "Well, we don't have enough time to stay, I'm afraid."

"I don't think you have _any_ of Time," the Mad Hatter said, looking around. "At least not that I see." He leaned very close to Glitch and added, "Though I suppose we could always _make_ Time."

Glitch choked on the sip of tea he'd been swallowing. "I get my kicks above the waistline, sunshine!" he said, indignantly standing up.

"It's no good, you can't make Time anyway," the March Hare said sadly.

"No, but you could make a clock," the Hatter argued.

"A clock isn't time; it's just numbers and springs," the Hare said.

"Come on Glitch," Cain said, getting up. "This isn't going to help us."

Glitch nodded, and the two of them walked back out the gate, starting back down the dirt pathway.

A while later, they passed a clearing where a pair of boys seemed to be fighting very loudly about something. On closer inspection, it appeared to be a pair of twins who were fighting.

"Enantiomorphs!" Glitch exclaimed, his eyes lighting up with interest.

"What? Come on, we have to go."

"Enantiomorphs, plural noun, an item and its mirror image, which are not identical to each other."

"I think they're just twins. Come on, we don't have time to sit here. We have to keep going. We don't know where we're going yet, and we won't find out if we just stay here."

Glitch obviously regretted having to leave, but he agreed and followed Cain.

Moments later the path turned a corner, and Cain and Glitch almost ran into a man standing with a horse, looking up at a tree.

"Excuse me," Glitch said. "But what are you doing?"

"Well," the man answered, "ever since our game ended, I haven't been quite sure what to do with myself. Alice was made a queen, but was captured by the other side, you see. But the other side should be red, and while she _is,_ she also _isn't,_ and has captured a number of the red pieces too. And then a _green_ queen showed up, and was captured by her, and I was thoroughly confused. I think she said all of us were supposed to be confined in the chess maze, but I'm still out here, so I just don't know. And who are you? You seem to be a green knight and a green bishop maybe. But then there was that _other_ green queen, and the other green knight, and maybe a green rook? I dare say I've never played against green before, so I don't think I shall try right now."

"What are you talking about?" Cain asked.

"Our game of course. I'm the white knight, but I don't know where the rest of the white pieces have gotten to. And the red queen was captured by another queen, who was also red. It's dreadfully confusing, even without taking into account the fact that green pieces have begun to show up as well. I thought maybe I invented something clever here to tell me what to do, but apparently not."

"There aren't any green pieces in chess. Not usually," Glitch said.

"Well, then what are you doing here?"

"We aren't chess pieces," Cain said. "But… you said a red queen was capturing pieces? Would that be the Queen of Hearts? We need to find and stop her."

"I believe so," the white knight replied. "But it's worse than you know."

"It usually is," Cain replied.

"She's captured the usual red queen, the white queen, white queen-Alice, and the first green queen as well," the Knight said.

"Green queen?" Glitch said, "He must mean Azkadellia!"

"Yeah, and if he knows of another green queen and companions, DG and everyone else is probably okay. Sir, could you tell us how to get to the other red queen?"

"I could try, but she's turned it into a madhouse game. The red queen and the white queen are working for her now, though Queen Alice and the green queen are just captured."

"Well, Glitch, are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Cain asked.

"Absolutely," the White Knight answered. "If we put little wheels on the bottoms of our shoes, we could just roll around everywhere."

"We need to try and rescue them?" Glitch asked.

"Yes, and I think this knight can show us the way. Can you, sir?"

"I can get you to the gates of the palace, but after that my turn will be over," he answered.

"That's good enough," Cain said.

XXX

Azkadellia gripped Alice's hand tightly as the Queen of Hearts stormed down into the dungeon, and faced them through the bars.

She looked at them and with a forced-sweet voice said, "Well, well. What clever little witch-queens I have in my cells. Of course, I can't blame you. These cells are hardly fitting for royalty. I suppose you should receive treatment more appropriate to your ranks."

She snapped her fingers, and four of the card soldiers fanned out behind her. "Bring them with us," she commanded.

With her command, the rubies embedded in the suit markers of the cards flared. Two guards stood by each girl, making certain that neither of them could do anything but follow the queen as she led them up the stairs of a tower.

She led them into a large room at the top of the tower. It seemed to be a bedroom, and was indeed decorated in a way befitting a princess. But the bars over the window and the large locks on the outside of the door made it clear it was still a prison.

"Enjoy your new quarters," she smiled. "Where it is certain that no one will be able to reach you." She and the guards left the room then, slamming and locking the door behind them.

Az walked over to a little end table set with a plate of cherry tarts.

"How can you even be interested in food?" Alice asked, her voice shaking a little.

"I'm not," Azkadellia said calmly, picking up a small serving knife from the plate and hiding it in her sleeve. It wasn't particularly sharp, but it was the closest thing to a weapon they had.

"Azkadellia, I'm scared. I wasn't really scared of her before, but I am now," Alice said. "I didn't think I had to worry, but now I think she'll really kill anyone who tries to rescue us. And if you think your sister may be coming for you? She's in danger."

"It'll be okay," Az said, hugging her close and stroking her hair. "We're still going to get out of here. My sister and the others are getting closer, I'm sure I can feel them now. They'll get us out of here. A tower won't stop them."

"I hope so," Alice said, hugging her back.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

DG dodged a strike from the Red Queen's lance, and struck up with the sword she'd gotten from the looking glass house.

The Red Queen darted back, and hissed to the White Queen, "Where did she get the vorpal sword?"

"How am I to know? Quick! Before she strikes with it again!"

Raw swiped up at the White Queen as she lunged toward Jeb. When he diverted her attention, Jeb shot at her.

The bullet hit, but didn't do much damage. It hit her shoulder, and a bit of it chipped away. The queens seemed to be made of stone rather than flesh.

DG struck with the vorpal sword again, and it sliced easily through the Red Queen's lance, severing the tip. The Red Queen threw the useless stick away.

Jeb aimed carefully again, and this time shot the White Queen in the neck. The metal of the collar she wore dented, but did not break, and did no damage to the stone beneath. Jeb had to jump back from a lance strike that hit right where he'd been standing, gouging the dirt and rocks.

The Red Queen dived toward DG, intending just to hit her, but DG stepped aside. DG swung her sword horizontally at the Red Queen as her momentum carried her too far. The sword caught the Red Queen in the neck, and it did cut through the collar, though not through her throat.

The Red Queen turned quickly and swung her arms out toward DG. The chains at the queen's wrists swept just past her head, and caught on the blade of the sword when she held it up to protect her face. The chains came apart almost as soon as the blade touched them.

The Red Queen stopped then, and reached to pick up the stick of the lance she'd dropped before.

DG stood at the ready again, but the Red Queen didn't come after her. Instead she rushed at the White Queen, striking out at her.

The White Queen spun and tried to use her lance to fight the Red Queen, Jeb, and Raw off all at once, but she was quickly overpowered.

"Hold her down!" the Red Queen shouted. "Young woman! Come over here and cut off her chains!"

DG ran over, and easily cut the chains from the White Queen.

As soon as the bonds were removed, the White Queen stopped struggling. "Thank you, young lady," she gasped, no longer fighting, but still exhausted. "We were prisoners of the Queen of Hearts, forced to guard the entrance to her maze, to keep anyone from reaching the palace."

"Please go and stop her. Free the others that she has kept in there," the Red Queen said, standing and helping the White Queen to her feet as well.

"We will," said DG. "But do you know if she has my sister?"

"Her most recent prisoner is in the palace. Queen Alice is also being kept there. Please free them, and stop the Queen of Hearts before she takes any more power."

"We're going to," said Jeb. "Don't worry."

"One of the White Knights is coming," said the White Queen. "Though there are more pieces with him. He runs near as fast as a Bandersnatch."

DG looked the way the White Queen had glanced, but she couldn't see anything except a slight cloud of dust.

But, moments later, the White Knight had arrived, with both his companions.

"Have this green queen and her knight and rook captured you now?" he asked the queens.

"No, no. But we are away from the Queen of Hearts, and that is what matters. Now we'll soon be able to go play a proper game."

"You're safe!" Glitch interrupted, climbing down rather gracelessly from his position behind Cain on the back of the horse, and rushing over to the others.

Cain was close behind.

"Glitch, Mr. Cain!" DG shouted, grinning. "You're both all right!"

"Yeah, kid," said Cain. "Looks like you had a time of it though," he added, looking at Jeb's drawn gun, and DG's sword.

"We're fine, Father. The two of you weren't hurt?" asked Jeb.

"No. Near enough a few times. But we're fine, and we're all here now," Cain answered.

"Azkadellia is in the castle, which is in the center of this maze," DG said. "And there's supposedly someone else in there too, a Queen Alice? If we can, we should save her too."

"No telling how much time has gone by," said Cain, looking up at the sky. "So we should hurry. Do all of you still have your bags?"

DG nodded. "Yes, and all their contents too."

"Good. Then let's go."

XXX

Azkadellia looked out the window of the tower. There was a huge maze stretched out all around the palace walls. She could vaguely see small figures at the entrance. She had a feeling it was DG and her friends, but there was no way for her to be sure. So she stood at the window and mapped out the maze from above, and willed her knowledge to be shared with her sister.

Alice stood next to her, helping her to watch the maze for any dangers lurking in it.

XXX

The maze started off dark, but grew a little lighter as they continued on. They'd argued a bit over how to go about finding their way through the maze. DG said she just had a feeling which way to go, and so they should go based on that. Jeb thought they should just take every right-hand turn, which would eventually get them through. DG's disagreement with that was that they had no proof that the maze would actually work that way, since everything else in Wonderland seemed to work strangely.

Eventually they decided to trust DG, since logic seemed to have little use here.

"Well, you all made it."

They all turned to face the new voice, coming from just above.

"Oh," DG sighed. "It's you, Cheshire Cat."

"Were you expecting someone else?"

"You said you'd meet us here," Cain said. "So you all met him too?"

"Painfully unhelpful, isn't he?" Jeb remarked.

"Except for when he manages to help despite it all," Cain said.

"Well," the cat said, looking at DG, "I see you helped yourself to the vorpal sword. Good thing, too. The only way to kill a Jabberwock, that is."

"Like that nonsense poem?" DG asked. "'Twas brillig and the something toves?"

"'Twas brillig and the slithy toves did gyre and gimbel in the wabe; all mimsy were the borogoves, and the mome raths outgrabe," the Cheshire Cat recited. "Of course, that's the least helpful part of the whole poem. At least if you're looking for what Jabberwocky are. Though I suppose that as long as you know to beware the Jabberwock, with its jaws that bite and claws that catch, and to beware the Jubjub bird and to shun the frumious Bandersnatch, you'll be all right. And if you have a vorpal sword."

"And are we likely to run into any of them?" DG asked.

"The queen has captured a few. They're even worse out of the tulgey wood. She's using them to guard what you're looking for. A Bandersnatch is very fast, and can whip its neck out to bite you. A Jabberwock has fearsome jaws and claws. If you hear it burbling or see its flaming eyes, it's already too late."

"Why are you helping us now, Cat?" DG asked.

"Because I am bored to excess by the Queen of Hearts. She'll rule over everything, and leave nothing to sport with. I'd like to see her try to behead me though," the Cat laughed, promptly disappearing everything but his head. "Now keep on going. Follow your instincts if you want to make it through." His head finally disappeared too.

DG took off running, and the others followed. She found that she really did know her way through the maze. It wasn't like the maze in Fenaqua, which she knew because she'd done it before, but still, she knew her way.

Suddenly they heard a rustling from the corner ahead of them.

DG drew her sword, and Cain and Jeb both drew their guns.

Cain led the way around the corner. From the Cat's description, what was awaiting them was a Bandersnatch. It turned to face them lazily at first, but then rushed them with dizzying speed. It was quite literally a few yards away one second, and almost on top of them the next.

Cain fired his gun at its head. It extended its neck then, stretching its head out over them to snap at Raw, who was in the back. Cain's shot hit it in the neck, as did one from Jeb.

The Bandersnatch pulled its neck back in and growled lowly. DG held her sword out at the ready, but the Bandersnatch turned and ran. There was no hope of catching it.

"We don't need to go that way," DG said. "Lets just hope it doesn't come back."

"It seemed extra frumious," Glitch said.

The maze twisted and turned, but DG's path never led them to a dead end, or past anyplace they knew they'd been before.

After a while, they heard someone crying off to their left.

"I wonder what that is?" DG said, pausing to get a look into the ornamented clearing that they sobbing was coming from. Two figures were seated inside next to a little river. One looked like a gryphon, but the other didn't look like anything she recognized. It looked a bit like a turtle with a calf's head, but even that wasn't quite it. But that was the one that was crying, tears streaming right down his face, into the river.

"Oh, that's just the Mock-Turtle. Don't let him bother you; he's got no real sorrow, you know," the Cheshire Cat said, materializing on the archway into the clearing.

"Why is he crying then?" DG asked.

"Well, he needs to keep the pool of tears and the river of tears full, doesn't he? Alice started it so very long ago, but someone needs to keep it full."

"But we're downstream from the pool of tears. How is he filling it then?"

"Well, if his tears didn't reach him, how would he know he was still crying? Keep going now, don't stop." And he vanished again, all except for his grinning mouth, which started to sing the "'twas brillig" verse of the poem again.

XXX

The Queen of Hearts returned to the room where she'd kept Azkadellia and Alice sooner than they'd expected.

Az had just barely seen that DG got through the maze safely before the Queen threw their door open and swept in.

She smiled as the two of them shrank back from her.

"Change of plans. The little princess's sister and friends got farther than expected, so I may actually have to meet them. They'll want to be sure you're safe I imagine, so you can come with. And the little supposed queen can come too. No sense leaving you here alone. Guards! Escort them out behind me."

XXX

DG was finally able to get them to the palace doors. The maze had opened up into a clearing, which ended in a set of marble steps going up to a huge set of doors.

Walking up to the door, DG pressed her ear to it before moving to open it.

"Um… would you say the noise coming from the other side of the door would be 'burbling?'" she asked.

Jeb came to the door and put his ear against it as well. "Yeah, maybe. And scraping."

"Well," DG said, drawing her sword, "We still have to go in."

"We do," he agreed. He drew his gun, and looked at Cain.

Cain drew his gun as well, and stood at the door.

Glitch and Raw stood to the sides, ready, but not going to fight unless it were necessary.

Cain shoved the door open and they all stood ready.

Jeb and DG had been right about the noises from the other side of the door. What could only be a Jabberwock was scratching along the marble floor of the entrance, several of the card guards trying to keep a hold of chains attached to a collar around its neck. They were meeting with little success, as it was pulling them from side to side.

As soon as it caught sight of the newcomers in the doorway, it turned its flaming eyes on them, and roared, louder than the burbling growling from before. It rushed forward, dragging the guards with it. When they tried to hold it back, the Jabberwock spun and smashed them into the floor, with a painful sounding grate of metal on stone. The guards did not get up.

Cain and Jeb both shot at the Jabberwock, and while the shots hit, it did not slow down.

DG stepped forward and struck out toward the Jabberwock with her vorpal sword, but it dodged, aiming for Jeb.

DG lost her balance, but recovered quickly, striking again at the Jabberwock. She struck it in its back. The wound wouldn't be fatal, but it seemed to hurt it more than the bullets had.

It turned to her, forgetting the others for the moment. Swiping with its claws, it knocked her down, the sword clattering away across the floor out of her hand.

She rolled aside, able to avoid its next strike at her, but she was farther away from her weapon now.

She kept running, but it was faster than she was. She was only lucky that it was so big it was having trouble turning in the confined space.

Jeb and Cain were still shooting at it, but it was barely paying attention to them. She needed to get back to her sword. Finally, she made a stupid run back toward the monster. It caught her a glancing blow to her left side, but she was able to get past it, and closer to her sword.

She managed to pick the sword up before it even had turned all the way to face her again. She was waiting when it did. It stretched its long neck toward her to bite her, and she swept the blade in an arc in front of her, striking out with a little of her magic as well. The Jabberwock's head fell to the ground, cleanly severed from its neck.

DG fell to her knees, gasping for breath as the others ran toward her.

"DG!" Raw said, getting to her first.

"Raw, I'm okay. It didn't hit me hard."

"It hit you hard enough," Jeb said, kneeling by her side, and pulling her left arm up a little. The Jabberwock's claws had left three parallel slashes through her shirt and the skin beneath.

Raw pressed his hands against her side and she felt a twinge of sharp pain, followed by a very relaxing moment, and the pain disappeared.

She looked down at her side to see that the wounds were completely gone, now just barely visible scars.

"Well, you all did better than I thought you would," the Queen of Hearts said, walking slowly down the wide set of stairs that led into the entryway from above. "I really didn't think you'd make it to the maze at all, and I'd barely even planned that you'd be capable of passing the Bandersnatch. The Jabberwocky was supposed to be a complete last resort. But even if you are better than I thought, there's no way you'll get past me."


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Last chapter! Thanks to any and all who have made it through the fic, and I hope that you enjoy it. Reviews would be nice, so I know how to improve for any future works!

Chapter 6

"Give up now, warriors of the O.Z. You have done well, but I know you will not risk the lives of the women you are trying to rescue. Bow before me as your new queen, give me the emeralds, and all of you will live to see my rule."

The Queen was standing where she knew she would appear most intimidating. The entrance hall was very similar to the one in the Northern Palace in the O.Z. Two staircases curved down from above to a landing at the head of the room. The landing then led down to a single broad staircase into the entryway. The Queen had stopped halfway down this staircase, and her guards were lined up behind her, all the way up the staircases to the upper floors. Four more guards stood on the landing, spears held to Azkadellia and Alice's throats.

"Azkadellia!" DG yelled, standing up, "Are you okay?"

"We're fine," Azkadellia said, though she was cut off when one of the guards pushed his spear harder against her throat.

"Let them go," DG said. She took off her pack and emptied it onto the floor in front of her. Emeralds, both raw and cut, clattered out across the marble. "We brought you what you wanted."

"The ransom was for Azkadellia only. Alice stays with me," the Queen said. "And I know better than to let your princess go until you are no longer a threat to me."

"What threat are we?" DG asked. "We're five strangers, facing you and twenty of your metal card soldiers."

"I know what happened to the witch of the O.Z. I know better than to underestimate you."

"Oh do you?" Azkadellia snapped, striking out to her side with her right arm, the blade she'd concealed hitting her guard, an ace of hearts, in the ruby attached to his heart-mark. The soldier dropped his weapon and froze.

Before the other guards reacted, Az had grabbed his fallen spear, and passed the knife to Alice.

Alice dropped to the ground, falling under the strike her guard aimed for her. She stabbed up with the knife. The strike was amateur, but still caught the gem she was aiming for, and the card stopped moving, the same as Az's had, and Alice took his spear.

Azkadellia and Alice were back-to-back, ready to fight off the Queen's other guards if she gave them the order to attack.

As soon as Azkadellia made her move, DG started whispering rapidly to the others, trying to make a plan that would let them win. "Rubies. The queen wears rubies, and so do her guards. The rubies can stop the guards. The Queen's power comes from the rubies, but she wants power of more gems, which is why she wanted the emeralds. But emeralds hold power in the O.Z., right?"

"So she thinks that if she gets the emeralds, her power will be stronger there. But if the rubies gave her power even in the O.Z., then the emeralds… they'll give you power here." Glitch said. "Even if the stones themselves have no magic anymore, they'll still amplify your power. At least… I think they will."

"And Az and I may be stronger than the Queen," DG finished, kneeling and grabbing a handful of the emeralds from the floor, keeping her eyes on the fight on the stairs.

"Only if you're together though," said Cain. "Tell us what to do."

"We need to get the Queen down here," said DG, "Go now, while she's still distracted. I'll try and move up the stairs, but right now she'll be able to keep me from getting close enough."

"Okay, Jeb, stay with me. Raw, Glitch, stick by DG, and don't get too close to the Queen if you can help it," Cain said.

The Queen now had a sword of her own and had turned, and was advancing on Alice and Azkadellia.

"Hey!" Cain yelled, firing a shot before the Queen attacked.

She turned to face him, and deflected the bullet with a quick flash of red light. His shot had accomplished what he needed though; she was moving back down the stairs toward him, leaving Az and Alice.

Alice and Azkadellia were holding their own, but that was partially due to the fact that the card soldiers seemed to be disorganized. They were only attacking two or three at a time, and so were easily being fought off. If they actually made a coherent assault, the two women would be overwhelmed.

Jeb shot at the Queen as well, with no more success than Cain had had. She deflected the bullet easily, and continued to move towards them.

DG shrank as close to the opposite railing of the stairs as possible, and as soon as she saw a chance she ran up, Raw and Glitch following.

A four of spades from above saw her and rushed down the stairs, spear aimed at her head. She tried to get her sword up to block, but the angle on the stairs was awkward. She ducked a little, expecting to be struck.

She heard another shot fired, and the guard running toward them suddenly stopped, the ruby on its chest cracked.

DG glanced back to see that Jeb had made the shot, and she caught his sigh of relief when the guard fell. She smiled at him before running back up the stairs. Raw grabbed the soldier's spear.

Jeb's quick attack had saved them, but it had also directed the Queen's attention back up the stairs.

"No!" the queen yelled, swinging her sword in their direction.

A bolt of red light arced from the tip of her sword to DG. DG turned to try and block it, and a weak green-tinted shield did start to form in front of her, but the Queen's magic broke through and hit DG in the shoulder. DG fell back. Raw and Glitch caught her, and she was able to get back on her feet.

"Keep moving," she said, stumbling back into a run up the rest of the stairs.

"Get her!" the Queen commanded, and the previously disorganized soldiers immediately turned to DG.

Azkadellia and Alice were able to knock out a few more of them, and to engage a few others, but that still left ten or so heading directly for the other three.

Then the Queen was aiming her sword again, but this time she was firing the light at the unconscious soldiers. When she hit the rubies in their chests, they revived and began attacking again.

"Ugh, we just can't get a break!" Az said, stabbing out at one of the soldiers still focusing on her.

DG glanced quickly down the stairs. Despite having been hit by the Queen's bolt of power, the card that Jeb had shot remained down.

"Az! If you hit the gems hard enough to break them, she can't revive them," DG said. She slashed upward with her sword. It was an odd angle to strike from, and it didn't have much power behind it, but it still stopped the first guard to reach them.

Raw struck at another one with his spear, and he did hit hard enough to crack the gem, while Glitch knocked out another one with a well-placed kick.

DG brought her sword back down into the chest of another soldier, shattering its gemstone.

"Is that a vorpal blade?" Alice asked.

"Huh?' DG ducked another spear aimed at her head. "Yeah, it is," she said, knocking the soldier back and running up a few more stairs.

"That's good," said Alice, stabbing out at one of the few soldiers still in the way.

DG rushed up the last few stairs, and locked hands with Azkadellia.

"Here," DG said, handing the sword over to Alice.

Glitch and Raw continued beating off a few of the remaining guards.

Gripping hands, Azkadellia and DG walked down the stairs. Some of the soldiers continued to rush toward them, but they couldn't hit them. The emeralds were still adding to the sisters' power, and they were shielded from harm.

"Queen of Hearts!" DG yelled.

"Face us!" Azkadellia finished, as they stopped halfway down the stairs.

It was an interesting turnabout from how it had been before. They stood on the lower stairs, with the card guards almost entirely unconscious or killed laying on the stairs behind them. The last few were being taken care of by Glitch and Raw on the landing. Alice was walking toward them, sword at the ready. The Queen had been locked in a stalemate with Cain and Jeb. Jeb had picked up a spear, and had been blocking her attacks, while Cain had still been shooting at her and the few soldiers she'd called to her.

Now all three of them had stopped and were staring up at the two sisters.

"Queen of Hearts. You are not the queen of Wonderland, nor will you ever be queen of the O.Z." Azkadellia said. "You have taken up the witch's poisonous hatred and thirst for power. Her body melted away into the ground above, but her hatred seeped farther down, finding a dark heart to latch onto. That's why your try for power started as soon as our witch was dead."

The Queen of Hearts lashed out with her sword again, but her bolts of power dissolved before they touched the sisters.

DG and Azkadellia stepped down the stairs. Jeb kept his spear at the Queen's back, not allowing her to retreat.

Alice stepped forward then as well, and Raw and Glitch moved down behind her.

"Alice?" DG asked. "You are a true queen of Wonderland, aren't you?"

Azkadellia looked surprised, but Alice nodded. "They said I was, the last time I was here. And they still called me that this time. Though this place has so many queens, I'm not sure the title has any meaning."

"Alice, you have the most right of anyone here to decide what to do," Azkadellia said. "Especially as the queen."

Alice stood in front of the Queen of Hearts. The Queen still looked furious, but she was far less intimidating. "Queen of Hearts," Alice began. "You have put many citizens of Wonderland to death without cause. You have imprisoned still more, including dangerous creatures, such as the Jabberwock. Your attempts to take over this land and others by force are unforgivable. In accordance with your own fondness for swift trials, I charge and convict you. Your sentence?" She paused and raised the vorpal sword. "Off with your head."

XXX

The journey back to the O.Z. was far less exciting than the trip to Wonderland had been. Alice had been able to open a door in the maze that led directly into the Nome Mines, so they didn't have to trek back across the whole land.

The dark tunnels were far less ominous than they had seemed before, and it wasn't long before they were back at the ladder-stairs out. This time however, Azkadellia and DG were able to make the journey seem a lot shorter by using magic to help. That was a great relief to all seven of them.

Alice had come with, since she said she really did feel that the title of "Queen" was fairly meaningless in Wonderland. Plus, she said the O.Z. sounded far more interesting than Earth or Wonderland.

DG had mentioned the existence of Travel Storms, which, with a few adjustments from Glitch, could probably make up the difference in time that the worlds all seemed to experience. Since this meant that Alice would still be able to visit Earth to say goodbye to her family, she was completely ready to join them. Azkadellia was obviously happy that Alice had decided to stay as well; the two of them had gotten to be rather close in the few days they'd known each other.

No one felt the need to dwell on the Queen of Hearts' death. She had simply vanished when Alice beheaded her. Alice said that she didn't think that she was really the Queen of Hearts at all, or at least hadn't been for quite some time. Regardless, Alice left it all for the Red Queen and the White Queen, or whatever other queens Wonderland had collected, to sort out if they chose to.

A small company of Tin Men was waiting for them outside the mine, to take them back to Central City and then to the palace.

DG blessed her parents' thoughtfulness to keep an eye out for them there. None of them would have had the energy for a long walk through the mountains. As it was, returning to the palace, being lauded as heroes for a second time, was a rather surreal experience for them all.

When they arrived at the palace, Cain provided a _very_ brief 'official' summary of their mission and an abbreviated formal introduction of Alice to the royal family, before they all were granted a much-needed rest.

XXX

Glitch stood on the balcony off his rooms, looking out over the moonlit city and the fields beyond. He didn't hear Cain come in until the Tin Man cleared his throat.

"Cain, you startled me," he said, turning back to the view.

"Taking in the sights of pleasant normalcy? Like, say, a sky?"

"Hard to believe we've been back a week already. Can't say I really miss it there though." Glitch sighed.

"No, I don't blame you there."

"Lucky us, having those princesses running around. We'll be sure to never have a dull day."

"True enough," Cain smirked, leaning on the balcony railing next to the advisor. "And we've got _three_ of them now, since Alice is here to stay."

Glitch smiled. "You know, I like this better than my 'dream.' When we were attacked by that caterpillar... And that really does sound ridiculous, doesn't it? A caterpillar attacking us? I mean, the physics of such a creature are beyond improbably. It shouldn't have even had the ability to move itself so quickly, considering the weight it would have compared to the strength of its legs. And it is even odder that it should have had the ability to speak, or to smoke for that matter, since its respiratory system is rudimentary at best."

"What happened in your dream?" Cain prompted, before Glitch got too off-track.

"Well, I dreamed about being on a balcony, looking out over a peaceful space, knowing nothing would ever go wrong. But I like it better here. What did you dream about Cain?"

Cain averted his eyes a moment. He'd always planned to ask Glitch what he saw, but found that he hadn't been prepared to answer the same question. There were too many parts of it that weren't sitting well yet. "It's not important," he temporized. "Not as important as the here and now."

"Mn." Glitch sighed.

"You should come inside before you fall asleep out here," Cain said, turning to go back in himself. "And you really do need your rest. You never know when we'll be shoved off on another exciting venture. Especially as long as the three of _them_ are around."


End file.
